“Ain’t It a Pretty Night!”

When young lovers gush eloquent tributes to the objects of their affections, some listeners might smile reminiscently, while others snort knowingly, depending on each one's own experience. However, the powerful sense of well-being that overwhelms you when encountering the glorious beauty of nature, which causes you to quote Robert Browning — “God’s in his heaven, All’s right with the world” — is hard to argue against, if you yourself have ever witnessed a night like the one Susannah did.

“Ain’t It a Pretty Night!”

by Carlise Floyd, from the opera Susannah

Susannah:

Ain't it a pretty night!
The sky's so dark an' velvet-like, and it's all lit up with stars.
It's like a great big mirror reflectin' fireflies over a pond.
Look at all them stars, Little Bat! The longer y'look, the more y'see.
The sky seems so heavy with stars that it might fall right out of heaven
an' cover us all up in one big blanket of velvet all stitched with diamon's.

Ain't it a pretty night!
Just think, those stars can all peep down an' see way beyond where we can:
they can see way beyond them mountains
to Nashville an' Ashville an' Knoxville.
I wonder what it's like out there, out there beyond them mountains,
where the folks talk nice, an' the folks dress nice,
like y'see in the mail order catalogs.
I aim to leave this valley some day an' find out fer myself:
to see all the tall buildin's and all the street lights
an' be one o' them folks myself.

I wonder if I'd get lonesome fer the valley, though,
fer the sound of crickets an' the smell of pine straw,
fer soft little rabbits an' bloomin' things
an' the mountains turnin' gold in the fall.
But I could always come back if I got homesick for the valley.
So I'll leave it someday an' see fer myself.
Someday I'll leave an' then I'll come back
when I've seen what's beyond them mountains.

Ain't it a pretty night!
The sky's so heavy with stars tonight
that it could fall right down out of heaven
an' cover us up, an' cover us up
in one big blanket of velvet and diamon's.

Another songwriter, named David, also exploded with joy upon seeing the glory of the night sky:

Psalm 19 (NLT)

The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies; yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world. 

The sun lives in the heavens where God placed it. It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding. It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race. The sun rises at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end. Nothing can hide from its heat.

If you embrace and agree with David's words, allow that same feeling of joy and well-being to continue as you read his words that follow those:

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are clear, giving insight to life. Reverence for the LORD is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the LORD are true; each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. They are a warning to those who hear them; there is great reward for those who obey them. 

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep me from deliberate sins! Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

The Word of God, aka “The Law,” is not meant to drag us down but to draw us up to Him. It reveals the dark recesses of our souls, where selfishness and self preservation abide and consume us. God never intended us to be the centers of our own lives. His glory is the fire around which we should dance. Self-centeredness induces anxiety and keeps us hiding in the bushes in fear, like the newly-fallen Adam and Eve did when they heard the approaching footsteps of their All-Good Creator-God. 
There are three ways God has revealed Himself to us:

• Through the glory of His creation
• Through the wisdom of His Word
• Through the sacrificial love of His Son, Jesus Christ

Allow the beauty of God's creation to inform you of His good and loving intentions, which He has also declared in His Word and demonstrated in the life, the works, the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus. Don't buy into the nonsense that Bible is a drag and that God is the great, big spoil sport in the sky. The only thing He wants to spoil is the destructive power of sin, death and selfishness, which Christ has already done by selflessly taking our sin and death upon Himself when He died on the cross. Then He trumpeted His victory by rising again.
The next time your heart glories in the beauty of the night sky, remember: that feeling is only a glimmer of what God can do in your heart through His Word and His Son — if you let Him!